Second Federal (Union) Occupation and "Valley Forge" Period

Little Person and Lincoln visit troops

Commodore Nutt, pictured on the left, visited Stafford and helped review the troops with Lincoln. Nutt was no stranger to Lincoln. Nutt came to fame when P.T. Barnum hired him in 1862 to be a performer at his New York and Florida museum. Nutt was best man for Tom Thumb’s wedding which was held in New York. The wedding was splashed across newspapers throughout America. Three days after their marriage, Tom Thumb and his wife, along with Nutt, visited the president. Evidently, Nutt had a beautiful singing voice and sang for the president several times after that. The last two days of Lincoln’s week-visit to Stafford were captivating for the soldiers who saw the 6-foot 4-inch president and and twenty-nine-inch Nutt. Nutt may have been one of America’s first celebrities to visit troops in the field. Click on “Photo Gallery” to see an advertisement for Nutt. (The other gentleman in the picture, who was probably included for scale, may be Sylvester Blecker who was P.T. Barnum’s agent.)